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Worcestershire gritting teams continuing to work around the clock

GRITTERS will continue to work around the clock in Worcestershire with snow expected to continue through the evening.

Worcestershire County Council's gritting teams will continue to work on routes throughout the afternoon and evening with snow expected to fall until the early hours of tomorrow morning.

Crews have been treating designated routes with salt since 2pm yesterday afternoon. They've been ploughing since the early hours of this morning.

The MET Office forecasts the heavier snow the county's experienced since around 8am this morning will ease from around 4pm. However there's still a prediction for 8cm of snow to fall on higher ground (2 - 5cm on low lying ground) between then and midnight.

Temperatures will dip as low as -3 tonight. Saturday and Sunday is expected to be drier, with the odd snow flurry but gauges will remain sub-zero.

Motorists making journeys are being urged to drive with caution – even on treated roads – with conditions expected to be very difficult.

All 1,233 county council grit bins in Worcestershire have been re-filled since the new-year and people are encouraged to make use of them by using salt on the highways. To help residents pinpoint their nearest bin an interactive map is available at www.worcestershire.gov.uk/gritting, which allows users to search by postcode.

The dedicated section of the website also includes a map showing the designated routes, which are served by the 31 gritting vehicles, answers to FAQs, road safety advice and local radio station frequencies.

By close of play tomorrow over the previous seven days the crews would have covered the equivalent distance of travelling from County Hall, Worcester, to the North Pole and back.

Jon Fraser, County Council Highways Customer and Community Manager, said: "The gritting crews haven't really stopped now for 24 hours. As one shift ends, another one starts. We are doing everything we can to treat and clear roads whilst we are in the grips of this bout of heavy snow.

"It looks like the snow is going to be here until around midnight tonight. The teams will be out and about continuing their work until at least the early hours. Forecasts suggest things will get drier over the weekend but not warmer, so we'll certianly be busy over the next few days.

"We'd urge anyone making journeys to please take care. Grit can only do so much, especially during extreme weather currently being experienced. Even when a road seems clear it's not safe to assume you can travel at normal speeds."

The latest information on disruption to public transport and services, will be available on the County Council's website www.worcestershire.gov.uk

The County Council's Twitter account, www.twitter.com/worcscc, is also on 'Gritter Twitter' mode for a fourth year to keep people up to date with what the teams are doing when freezing weather bites.